Tech In Motion

C# programming interfaces

2008-09-26T05:56:00.001-07:00

I've always believed that interfaces in C# were simply a waste of code. Coding a simple reference skeleton can't possibly help anything. This is true for smaller projects, but when you start writing larger projects, interfaces are a lifesaver. Interfaces provide the static point in a dynamic program. You will end up coding around them, but you will not break anything by adding to your impementations, or refactoring. There is a really good article for beginners over at c-sharpcorner.com

Twitter

2008-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

I don't get it. You'll notice the twitter piece on the left. One thing about twitter is that if you don't update it it looks terrible. I haven't twittered in ages and when you see how long it's been you feel like you haven't done anything. Interestingly, twittering is what you do when you have nothing to do. So, if you twitter, you've obviously nothing to do, and if you don't it looks like you've nothing to do. Its impossible to win at twitter.

Fast faster, umm fastest computer yet.

2008-07-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

I have always been interested in computer speed. IT seemed like since the 486 era, computer speeds have taken huge bounds, but it all seems to get eaten up by extra crap and the computer still runs slowly. I always figured that by 2.0 ghz, someone would figure out how to do fast. I own a macbook core duo and I've got to say that apple/intel is a good combintaion. Apple makes great operating system, and the core series are really great processors... just not fast enough.
I don't mean more ghz/instructions per second, I mean raw speed. Time to open any given program. This led me to search out new methodologies. I finally found some interesting things in the micro linux distros. I've always been a huge linux fan because it comes down to well written, modular code at the heart of it. Damn Small Linux (DSL) is the one I chose as of late because I prefer Debian based distro to others. I have a Celeron 2.4 ghz system with 1GB of DDR installed to play with. First I went with a software RAID of three IDE HDD's. Not bad, better than expected, but still lacking. Next I chose a dual 250 GB SATA RAID on a nice controller I picked up cheap (64MB of controller memory). Better, but still somehow lacking. THen a set of three 10,000 RPM Ultra 320 SCSI drives on a RAID 0 config (all of which were funny, cause I'm using next to NO space on these for DSL which requires onyl 200 MB of HDD space to install).
Finally I happened upon a device on ebay which allows you to plug a SD card directly into and IDE slot. I had wanted to try one of the new SSD drives next but $300 is a little bit steep for my taste. So I purchased this card for $14 on eBay and got a cheap 1GB SD card for testing. .

The results are the fastest load times yet. I had been using GIMP and Open Office for testing. Their load times usually go for at least 1 usually 2 or more seconds. The SCSI time was close to one seconds on both, but the single SD card was so low it was un measurable. It's the closest thing to an "Instant On" that i've found yet.
It's good to know that the real kicker in speed is the hard drive seek time. The lower the seek time, the faster your load times will be. You also notice an improve useabiltiy with this. All of the little lag times are virtually gone.

WCF 3.5

2008-06-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

So with the Windows composition Framework (WCF) which basically is just xaml, you can finally builf forms in a "Web" way.

My biggest beef with form builders is the lack of intuitiveness in the form layout. HTML of course is one of the best methods of determining a dynamic layout that owkr s in multiple places. With windows forms unfortunately, most people don't look into the form design much. Generally programs (like WYSIWYG designed websites) are laid out to support 800x600 resolution which means on a 1440x900 screen they're tiny, and you can't make better use of the program by making it bigger. A well designed HTML page using CSS can really break down this screen size barrier, by making your content usable at almost any resolution.

The xaml in the WCF 3.5 finally brings this to windows. while I haven't had alot of time to play with it yet, my first impression was that it looks very user friendly. One thing microsoft has always done is provide good development tools.

Recently I had a discussion with a friend about xaml versus xul. My final word on it was, If Microsoft adds xaml into visual studio for editing, it will win. Unfortunately IE still has a high percentage of the browser market. The one thing I didn't expect was the advent of a Firefox plugin to handle the WCF web applications in firefox. That blew me away. This proves to any critics that say that Firefox isn't used much. When Microsoft figures firefox for a competitor, they really are.

Analyze

2008-06-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

I finally got this blog setup in my Google analytics account. If your looking for good visitor statistics, analytics is by far the best and, of course it's free. Definitely check it out if your not tracking your users now. I used to use AWStats and it works ok, but it still lacks some key features that analytics provides, plus you can do it anywhere you can add Javascript (which is just about everywhere).

It's a webconference dumdum errr uhh dimdim maybe

2008-04-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

So I found myself wandering why good webconference programs aren't more plentiful on the Open Source side of the ballgame. I then decided to see what I could find and was promptly impressed by a simple server solution, dimdim. DimDim provides for webconferencing in a single host with multiple listeners scenario. Very good for educational uses where a professor could have a class completely online, but still lecture. With a white board and power-point built in, it's a hands down easy solution for this area. However, for the web conference with multiple speakers and group audio needs, it soon falls short. Only a max of three speakers (six if you setup your own server) at a time. They claim it's bandwidth issues, but I think more could be done to rectify that. We'll just have to see. I may delve into this project and get my own hands dirty, if only for the added audio users.

Surprising results

2008-04-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

So one month ago I set up a system for my daughter to use. I decided that linux had finally gotten user friendly enough for end users so I figured this would be a litmus test.

Six years old and she thinks she knows everything about computers. Truth is I haven't even shown her a command line yet. She plays a lot of educational games on Noggin, UpToTen, etc. which she truly enjoys.

A fresh install of Ubuntu +parental controls on an old P4 box and boom, one fresh linux workstation. At first she was hesitant. until I showed her that her Bookmarks had been copied from our other desktop (Quick note: Firefox w/ Google Sync is AWESOME.) she then warmed right up to it.

So one month later and she has found most of the stock games that come with Ubuntu and has even had me install a few more. It is a great success. She doesn't quite care for the Win Box anymore.

so this changes the count...

1 Windows XP Box
1 Ubuntu Server
1 New Ubuntu Workstation
1 Mac Quicksilver 733 running OS X 10.4.11
1 Powerbook Pismo 400mhz running Ubuntu PPC 6.06 (this one is a pet project. I've always been fascinated by the PPC processors and this one runs like a top)
1 Macbook running OS X 10.5 (with vm's of every flavor of windows and linux)
btw, if you haven't had the pleasure of using a macbook, goto your local apple store. There is not a better line of portable computers on the planet.

Getting Linux "there" on ppc

2008-03-29T20:54:00.001-07:00

So today I managed to slap ubuntu 6.06 on my powerbook g3. For the record os x 10.3 Panther does not run well on a g3 400mhz. The one thing that runs well on it is OS 9 and I am not going there. Not that I have a problem with old stuff, I actually usually find myself intrigued with older systems. OS 9 just lack a certain polish that exists in the later versions of OS X. 10.1 and 10.2 were more old worldish in that they lacked the intuition that I think really went into 10.3 that of course was rolled furth with Tiger and of course Leopard which I run on my macbook and absolutely love. I should digress though.

Since OS X was too slow, I almost gave this one up for loss, but I remembered running an older Ubuntu (breezy I think) on and older snow ibook 600 mhz g3 and it ran pretty well. So I decided to try it here. Unfortunately I ran into a small bit of a problem. You see I do not have the removable DVD drive for this system, which means that cd-rom booting did not work to the external cd-rom drive.
I had to go through the Open Firmware. Which wasn't too bad, if you find yourself in that situation take this advice. Copy the Install folder off the CD-rom and also copy the yaboot file to the root of the drive. You can then boot it through Open Firmware off the hard drive, then the Installer will autodetect the cdrom drive.

Problem solved I moved along and used the default "use the whole disk" partition option. Normally I like to keep my partitions separate, but I'm not running a web server on this or anything so it should be ok. The install was an extremely long process. I chose the alternate install CD. I find the live boot install doesn't work quite as well on older hardware. The install did take a long time, like a good three hours to run but the end result is a very usable system. Apple has a history of making top quality hardware. Not just dime a dozen, but well thought out. The touchpad on this Pismo is very nice to use compared to alot of PC touchpads I have been chained to in the past.

So, 400 mhz g3 is not the most powerfull processor you can get these days. 256MB of RAM could be upgraded a bit. For simple stuff like Web browsing or office work like open office, it seems to work well. Although I have learned something. Using two programs at once is not bad, but three will start to lag a bit.

For the record if you find yourself running Ubuntu (either ppc, or x86), and your looking for a wireless card to run, the D-link DWL-G650 is a nice 802.11g card that just works right out of the box. That one took awhile to find.

So I find myself writing this note on a G3 Pismo laptop running Ubuntu. Not sure why. I do have a macbook with leopard on it that I use for most everything, but for some reason, this old Powerbook feels comfortable to write on. Get yourself one, they're nice.

New Director

2008-03-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

We have gotten a new IT Director at work. the interesting thing is that he will not be based at Head Quarters, but rather n a different state.

At first I didn't think it would be a good idea. A director is someone who needs to be available to their employees to go to meetings and take care of director-like things.

I finally realized that in the IT world, we continually talk about how people can be connected from other locations through IT and the Internet. If any department could support a Director that telecommutes, it should be the IT department. We should be able to handle this no problem. I will post more here when we find out how it really works out.

A Little Phone Among Laptops

2008-03-25T06:59:00.001-07:00

Recently, I found myself sitting at my in-laws house without my trusty macbook and feeling a little bored. Other people were talking, using Windows-based laptops etc and I found myself browsing on an iphone instead of a computer... and I couldn't have been happier.

It's no wonder that cellphone vendors are puzzled. With years of design experience under their belt, a computer company comes in and with their first cellphone, they receive huge response. It's become more of a normal thing to see iphones on the street when people walk around and according to Google Zeitgeist, It was the fastest growing search term in 2007 (http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2007/).

One thing is sure, other manufacturers are struggling to figure out why people like it so much. Personally, the one thing that drove me to buy one, was the web browser. After using Internet Explorer mobile, as well as many phone browsers that are lucky if they can display the entire alphabet, mobile Safari is a breath of fresh air. Finally I can carry around the REAL internet in my pocket. Not some watered down, half-working version. The real McCoy is onboard.

Perhaps other companies will follow suit, but Apple again has managed to build the future today.

RTFM no really, at least RTFScreen

2008-03-22T17:19:00.001-07:00

I recently read a News story on Cnet about Apple installing Safari through its software update on Windows. Apparently the CEO of Mozilla had real problems with this and called in Malware tactics.Now I can understand if Mozilla feels like Apple pissed in their cheerios by releaseing a Window version of Safari. The real issue here is NOT whether apple should install software via it's update program. The real issue here is that end users need to take the time to read the words that come up on their screen. People wonder why the Viagra and Russian Mail-Order bride advertisements are out there. It's because people know that most users just click at random. If you took the time to read the text, you would know what safari is and should have a good idea whether you wanted it or not. the real problem is that you cannot go to a department store and buy a computer with a non-IE web browser on it. At least Apple is trying to do something about that rather than sit tight like the Mozilla folks and bitch on IRC. The simple fact is that if you want to topple the web browser giant, you will have to use a few questionable tactics. not necesarrily bad tactics, but at least the SAME tactics that M$ used to distribute IE. You've got to do something. The claim that IE 8 will be standards compliant, but I cannot see that happening. We'll just hafta wait and see I guess.

Don't get me wrong, I like Firefox just as much as the next geek, but they don't have a method to distribute to millions like Apple does.

SideNote: Multi-Desktop... Done Right

2008-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't done so yet, go to your local Apple store, and check out OS X Leopard. With all the other features set aside, Spaces alone is worth the upgrade.

I am not new to the multi-desktop interface which is standard in most linux window managers, but I have never seen it implemented as well as it is in Leopard's Spaces. With Spaces you can hotkey between desktops rather easily or you can bring it up with a "hot corner". Whe you bring up spaces it shows your multi desktops all on the screen at the same time (similar to how Expose shows your programs). The cool part is, you can drag your programs between the multiple desktops and Spaces remembers which spaces you want those programs on.

For everyday use, this isn't a big deal, but for power users it rocks!

n my setup for instance, when I use my Macbook, I usually have at least one VM running, and Citrix desktop from work at the same time. Now, when I open one VM and Citrix, they remember which desktop they were last parked on at stay out of my way until I hotkey to them.

The whole setup is great. I will try to get a video of this to post because once I researched how it works, I was sold.

Kudos to the Os X Development team, and Kudos to Apple.

What's your OS

2008-03-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Linux for those few who still don't know, is an alternative operating system for computers. I personally was a little bit late getting into the Linux realm mostly because of slow internet connections in the rural town I live in. My first linux install was a cpy of Mandrake in 2001. I remember thinking how cool it was to find an OS that I didn't already know how it worked. I started on Dos 3.2 and moved my way up the Windows ladder to 2kpro at that point in time, but this was a whole new ballgame. For the year following I followed linux excitedly. As a software developer I shouted the praises of Open Source software, and forecasted to everyone that their windows would be a piece of history in a few years.

Looking back, the topology of Information Systems has changed dramatically. For instance, in 2000, I had one PC with a dual boot windows/mandrake.

I currently have one Windows PC for my wife, one Linux workstation for the kids, One Linux server for file sharing, etc. and I am writing this from my Macbook running OS X 10.5.

Not only do my physical systems run the gamut, my Mac runs Vmware Fusion and has multiple Linux distro's installed ranging from Suse, Gentoo, Ubuntu, OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) Linux, and even one Windows XP VM.

No longer is there any issue of what operating system you use, you no longer must commit to one. It seems that the enterprise has not realized this yet. I work as a programmer for the nations largest air-ambulance company and we are committed to one specific desktop. But even there I am starting to see a difference. When people mention they want a different OS, we in the IT department don't automatically cringe. It's much easier to make everyone's computer play nicely now than it was 7 years ago.

E-mailing-A-Blog

2008-03-12T12:51:00.001-07:00

One of the handiest features anyone thought of......

Any service that let's you send it stuff through e-mail.

Blogspot -- E-mail-a-post to your blog.

Google Docs -- E-mail-a-doc to your account

I wonder if this integration will be happening more. I mean on the backside it cannot be that hard. There are code snippets out there to access an IMAP e-mail account in almost ANY language.

Welcome

2008-03-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Tech In Motion.